Being a shark means never having to go on a diet

Updated 1:56 pm, Friday, July 31, 2015

It takes nerve to call a shark "fat," but such is the description in an item posted Friday by the plucky Daily Mail.

Not mean-spirited, the article is about sharks being tagged for research by the scientific organization OCEARCH.

According to the UK publication, a great white that was bagged and tagged with an electronic tracking device along the U.S. East Coast tipped the scales at two metric tons ("tonnes"), or about 4,400 pounds.

The story doesn't mention when the shark was temporarily captured, or what name the crew gave it, although the OCEARCH shark tracker allows the public to follow the path of individually named sharks outfitted with devices that "ping" whenever the shark's dorsal fin breaks the surface of the water.

For example, Zac, a mature female tiger shark tagged on Feb. 14 off Cairns, Australia, registered a ping at 11:54 a.m. Friday, also in the Cairns area.

Pablo, a young male Mako shark tagged in April 2014 off the coast of Chile, pinged at 9:04 a.m. Friday.

Judging by the typical "bio" on the OCEARCH tracker, 4,400 pounds would definitely be a shark with a double chin, perhaps even warranting the Daily Mail's rather rude put-down: "World's fattest great white."

Joey Polk missed out on the record books with his catch because he and his crew did not return the shark to the wild. Instead feeding it to 200 people at a community feast. The international land based shark fishing association requires sharks be released.

Joey Polk missed out on the record books with his catch because he and his crew did not return the shark to the wild. Instead feeding it to 200 people at a community feast. The international land based

Aerial footage showed more than a hundred sharks gathering off Gulf resorts in Alabama. Officials said they did not know what kind of sharks they were suggesting they could be Sand bar, Black Tip or Bull sharks. less

Aerial footage showed more than a hundred sharks gathering off Gulf resorts in Alabama. Officials said they did not know what kind of sharks they were suggesting they could be Sand bar, Black Tip or Bull ... more

Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole in her belly. He says he thinks she was bitten by another shark while she was on his line.

Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole in her belly. He says he thinks she was biten by another shark while she was on his line.

Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole in her belly. He says he thinks she was biten by another shark while she was on his line.

Photo: From Video By Ashley Violet

Image 25 of 32

Image 26 of 32

Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole in her belly. He says he thinks she was biten by another shark while she was on his line.

Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole in her belly. He says he thinks she was biten by another shark while she was on his line.

Photo: From Video By Ashley Violet

Image 27 of 32

Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole in her belly. He says he thinks she was biten by another shark while she was on his line.

Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole in her belly. He says he thinks she was biten by another shark while she was on his line.

Divers spotted the Great White ominously swimming by during a trip out 80 miles off the Florida coast in April.

Photo: Dane Kelly

Image 29 of 32

Divers spotted the Great White ominously swimming by during a trip out 80 miles off the Florida coast.

Divers spotted the Great White ominously swimming by during a trip out 80 miles off the Florida coast.

Photo: Dane Kelly

Image 30 of 32

Image 31 of 32

Divers spotted the Great White ominously swimming by during a trip out 80 miles off the Florida coast.

Divers spotted the Great White ominously swimming by during a trip out 80 miles off the Florida coast.

Photo: Dane Kelly

Image 32 of 32

Being a shark means never having to go on a diet

1 / 32

Back to Gallery

In a quick run-through of sharks that have made recent pings, the only one that comes close to the two-tonne mark is Katharine, at 2,300 pounds.

Katharine rang in at 5:42 p.m. Wednesday off North Carolina. The shark, tagged in August 2013 off Cape Cod, is named for Cape Cod native and songwriter Katherine Lee Bates, best known for writing "America the Beautiful."

According to the OCEARCH expedition schedule, tagging crews have not been along the U.S. East Coast since the Cape Cod expedition in August 2013. Most recently, the team was in West Australia in April and May.

Another expedition, to be announced, is planned for fall, according to OCEARCH.